CORNERSTONECONNECTIONSCORNERSTONECONNECTIONS

flashlight“The fear of the Lord dwelt in the heart of Luther, enabling him to maintain his stead-

fastness of purpose and leading him to deep humility before God. He had an abiding

sense of his dependence upon divine aid, and he did not fail to begin each day with

prayer, while his heart was continually breathing a petition for guidance and support. ‘To

pray well,’ he often said, ‘is the better half of study’” (The Great Controversy, p. 122).

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famous faithScripture Story: Romans 1–3; John 15:19, 20.Commentary: The Great Controversy (or Love Under Fire),

chapters 7, 8.

“For in the gospel the righteousness

of God is revealed—a righteousness

that is by faith from first to last, just

as it is written: ‘The righteous will

live by faith.’”

(Romans 1:17, NIV)

keytextkeytext

famous faith

rea l . so l id . s to r ie srea l . so l id . s to r ie sPhoto by Luis Guerra, Jr.

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Conduct a survey asking respondents what percentage (0-100) of truth they would ascribe to each statement. Invite yourfriends to conduct the survey as well. Calculate the average foreach answer. Compare and discuss your findings with yourfriends’ results.

What percentage of truth would you give to eachstatement?____ There is no absolute truth.____ We can get to heaven through an equal com-

bination of faith and works.____ Christianity is a cause worth dying for.____ The Bible contains mistakes, but it is still

the Word of God.____ People are better Christians today than

they were in the past.

hen Martin Luthermarried, neither henor his bride, Katherinevon Bora, felt “in love.”Katherine was still get-

ting over a broken engagement to a man shetruly loved. Martin admitted, “I am not ‘in love’ orburning with desire.” Yet their love for one anotherand for others flourished throughout their 20-yearmarriage.They regularly took in so many sick and dying peo-

ple, their house had to be quaran-tined long after the plague of1527 ended. In 1541 a tran-sient woman came to theirhome. Martin and Katherine fedand housed her, only to discover she

had lied and stolen. Even on hiswedding night, Luther couldn’trefuse a person in need. At 11:00p.m., after all the guests had left, radicalReformer Andreas Karlstadt knocked at the

door. Largely because Luther fiercely opposed him,Karlstadt had fled town. But now, when Karlstadt was flee-ing the Peasants’ War and needed shelter, Luther took him in.1

whatdo you think?

INTOTHESTORY

“If you belonged to the

world, it would love you asits own. As it is, you do not

belong to the world, but I havechosen you out of the world.

That is why the world hates you.Remember what I told you: ‘Aservant is not greater than hismaster.’ If they persecuted me,they will persecute you also. If theyobeyed my teaching, they will obeyyours also.”

“I am not ashamed of the gospel,because it is the power of God thatbrings salvation to everyone whobelieves: first to the Jew, then tothe Gentile. For in the gospel therighteousness of God isrevealed—a righteousness thatis by faith from first to last, justas it is written: ‘The righteous

will live by faith.’”

“But now apart fromthe law the righteous-

ness of God hasbeen made known,

to which theLaw and the

P r o p h e t st e s t i f y .

This righteousness is given throughfaith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.There is no difference between Jewand Gentile, for all have sinned andfall short of the glory of God, and allare justified freely by his grace throughthe redemption that came by ChristJesus. God presented Christ as a sac-rifice of atonement, through the shed-ding of his blood—to be received byfaith. He did this to demonstrate hisrighteousness, because in his forbear-ance he had left the sins committedbeforehand unpunished—he did it todemonstrate his righteousness at thepresent time, so as to be just and theone who justifies those who have faithin Jesus.

“Where, then, is boasting? It isexcluded. Because of what law? Thelaw that requires works? No, becauseof the law that requires faith. For wemaintain that a person is justified byfaith apart from the works of the law.Or is God the God of Jews only? Is henot the God of Gentiles too? Yes, ofGentiles too, since there is only oneGod, who will justify the circumcisedby faith and the uncircumcisedthrough that same faith. Do we, then,nullify the law by this faith? Not at all!Rather, we uphold the law.”

(John 15:19, 20; Romans 1:16, 17; 3:21-31, NIV)

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did youknow?

punch lines"See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous per-

son will live by his faithfulness" (Habakkuk 2:4, NIV).

“For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talkof foolish people” (1 Peter 2:15, NIV).

"An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tellslies” (Proverbs 12:17, NIV).

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may bewiped out, that times of refreshing may come from theLord” (Acts 3:19, NIV).

“Do you see what this means—all these pioneerswho blazed the way, all these veterans cheering uson? It means we’d better get on with it. Stripdown, start running—and never quit! No extraspiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyeson Jesus, who both began and finished thisrace we’re in. Study how he did it. Because henever lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—hecould put up with anything along the way:Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’sthere, in the place of honor, right alongsideGod. When you find yourselves flagging inyour faith, go over that story again, item byitem, that long litany of hostility he plowedthrough. That will shoot adrenaline into yoursouls!” (Hebrews 12:1-3, Message).

“Certain it is that the reason thereis so much shallow living—much

talk but little obedience—is that so feware prepared to be, like the pine on the

hilltop, alone in the wind for God.”—Amy

Carmichael, 20th-century Irish missionary to India.

“‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ is written on many moretombstones than lives.”—Dallas Willard, U.S. philosopher and writer.

OUTOF THESTORYWhy do you think the world hates Jesus andHis followers? What does it mean to “belong” toJesus?

What do these passages teach us about the Christian faith?

What do these passages teach us about the experience of salvation?

How do these passages inform us about the gospel?

What is it about the gospel that would make someone ashamed of it? Howhave you addressed that in your life?

What is the relationship between keeping the law and being saved?

The book of Romans was life-changing for Martin Luther.Why do you think this was the case? Are the concepts inRomans equally life-transforming for you? If so, why? Ifnot, why not?

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makingitrealthis one thing, it’s over. But with this one thing,you will be completely healed. But let me beutterly clear: It’s impossible for you to live with-out this one thing.”

What would you say?

“Listen, Doc, you’re boring me. My favorite sit-com is starting in five minutes, and I wouldn’tmiss it for anything.”

Or, “Well, that’s interesting. But, Doctor, that’syour opinion. You are completely entitled to it,and I’m sure it makes you feel better for hav-ing expressed it. But I resent your attempt toimpose it upon me. I really don’t need this kindof psychological blackmail, this medical fas-cism. Goodbye and good riddance.”

Or, “What? What is it? Tell me now! I have toknow, and I won’t leave until I do!”

Of course, the only sane response is the lastone.

If we are saved by faith, and if we live by faith,and if it is impossible to please God withoutfaith, the only sane response is: What is it?What is this faith? You have to tell me! I haveto know, and I’m not leaving until I do!2

Tuesday

Compare and contrast Ellen White’s state-ment in the Flashlight section with this

text: "See, the enemy is puffed up; his desiresare not upright—but the righteous person willlive by his faithfulness" (Habakkuk 2:4, NIV).________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wednesday

Choose one of the Punch Lines and incor-porate it into a morning and evening

prayer to use this week to begin and end yourday.

Thursday

this week’s reading*The Great Controversy (or LoveUnder Fire), chapters 7, 8.

*Love Under Fire is a special adaptation of The GreatControversy, created for you by the Ellen G. WhiteEstate and Pacific Press. Get more information about itat http://www.cornerstoneconnections.net/article/191/about-us/conflict-of-the-ages-companion-books#.URlhF1rBO9s. By following the weekly reading plan,you will read at least one book of the Conflict of theAges Series each year.

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How can I experience salvation today?

_________________________________________________________________________________

Friday

How do you reconcile Romans 1:17 withDon Miller’s observation in Blue Like

Jazz?

“The trouble with deep belief is that it costssomething. And there is something inside me,some selfish beast of a subtle thing, that doesn’t like the truth at all because it carriesresponsibility, and if I actually believe thesethings I have to do something about them. . . .I used to say that I believed it was important totell people about Jesus, but I never did. [Myfriend] Andrew very kindly explained that if I donot introduce people to Jesus, then I don’tbelieve Jesus is an important person. It doesn’tmatter what I say.” 3

1 “Martin Luther—The Later Years and Legacy,” Christian

History, Issue 39.2 Mark Buchanan, Things Unseen (Multnomah, 2002), pp.

140, 141 as posted at www.preachingtoday.com. 3 Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz (Nelson, 2003), pp. 107, 110.

Texts credited to NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International

Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.

Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Texts credited to Message are from The Message. Copyright

© 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by per-

mission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Sabbath

A fter doing the survey in the What Do YouThink? section, meet with friends who

also surveyed others and discuss the followingquestions:• What was the most interesting response yougot? Why?

• Which statement got the most diverse an-swers? Which one got the most similar responses? How would you explain the re-sponses?

• Suppose you surveyed Martin Luther. Whatpercentages do you think he would havegiven to each statement?

• How did the average percentages for eachstatement compare with your own answers?

Sunday

R ead Romans 1–3 and reflect: How have Ibeen set aside for the gospel? What does

this mean for me today? (Remember, you haveNotes pages in the back of your study guide towrite longer answers.)

In what areas does my faith need to bestrengthened? What can I do today tostrengthen my faith?

If God were to ask me, “Why should I let youinto heaven?” how would I respond?

How would I explain the true meaning of Chris-tian faith to an unbeliever?

If I had to explain the gospel solely based onRomans 1–3, what would I say?

Monday

R eview the Key Text and then consider thisscenario imagined by Mark Buchanan:

Suppose that you just found out you have arare and terminal illness. You sit down withyour doctor.

“Is there no hope?” you ask.

“Well,” he says, “there is one thing. Without